Swollen lymph node - do I have cancer?
Hello,
since Monday, my throat on the right side has been sensitive and painful to the touch. It's where the lymph node is located. It also felt thicker than usual.
At first, I thought I was getting sick. It really seemed that way, as I felt a bit unwell that day and even had mild chills in bed that evening. However, I didn't have a runny nose, cough, or sore throat.
The next day, I felt better again. I haven't gotten sick until today. But the lymph node still hurts. So today I went to see my doctor, and she confirmed that it is indeed swollen. The right one. The left one is normal. However, she's not worried about it, as 1) it's painful, which is supposedly a good sign, and 2) my right tonsil is covered with something and is also larger than the other. She mentioned that even if I don't have a runny nose or sore throat, I might be fighting some kind of virus. Additionally, there's a cold going around in the area right now. She would only be concerned if, for example, I came to her in the middle of summer without any cold symptoms and with painless swelling. And even then, she said, it doesn't necessarily have to be lymph node cancer. Then she repeated her usual saying: "What is common is common. And what is rare is rare." And cancer is rare.
However, I am a hypochondriac and still worry, and have already imagined various cancer scenarios. Swollen lymph nodes without a cold seem like a very bad sign to me. Also, my right tonsil has always been larger than the other, naturally. In my opinion, that doesn't mean much. And secondly, sometimes I believe that the area that hurts is not actually the node itself, but a few millimeters away. It might not even be the node, it could actually be painless swelling.
That's why I'm asking again: do you think I really don't need to worry? Or should I seek a second opinion? Or even go to the hospital and have the node examined as soon as possible?
